Mercia's £14m boost for Lancashire and North West firms

Mercia invested £14.3million in North West businesses in 2018 – up from £9 million the previous year.

The figures highlight its role as one of the UK’s most active investors and a key source of funding for regional SMEs.

Mercia made investments in 24 companies in the region during the year, including Manchester-based tech firms Pimberly, ParkCloud and Shaping Cloud, the Lancashire games firm Soccer Manager and muffin plant machinery firm Baldwin Engineering Holdings, and Lancashire Waste Recycling.

The group, which manages Lancashire Rosebud Finance and part of the Northern Powerhouse Investment Fund, employs 27 staff in the North West and has offices in Manchester and Preston.

During the year the group increased its third party funds under management from £350 million to more than £400 million.

Growing by around 30 per cent a year, Mercia now has more than 80 employees in eight locations nationwide and partnerships with 19 regional universities including Liverpool and Liverpool John Moores.

According to recent reports from Beauhurst, Mercia is one of the top four investors in university spinout businesses and one of the UK’s top four most active venture capitalists specifically focused on innovation.